US Senate candidate Ted Cruz has argued a number of cases before the US Supreme Court. In one case, Cruz and his governor Rick Perry literally held US sovereignty in their hands.(Photo: The US Report/Kay B. Day)Did you know that US Senate candidate Ted Cruz and Texas governor Rick Perry played a pivotal role in protecting US sovereignty? Did you know that if Cruz and Perry had refused to fight for our sovereignty, the World Court could have interfered in domestic courts and potentially could overturn any verdict the World Court chose to challenge?

The 2008 case of Medellin vs. Texas placed US sovereignty in jeopardy. Media—both legacy media and conservative media—turned a blind eye. One conservative magazine did cover a related decision—Avena. That World Court decision related to 51 Mexican nationals on death row in the U.S. Mexico sued, asking The World Court to mandate that all those cases be reopened. Guilt, convictions and states’ rights didn’t matter.

Many of those nationals, like Jose Ernesto Medellin, had lived in the U.S. for years, receiving a public education paid for by taxpayers and eligible for all entitlements available to the children of illegal aliens. However, when Medellin found himself convicted and sentenced to death, he decided his rights had been violated because he hadn’t been informed he could contact the Mexican consulate. Technically Medellin was still a Mexican citizen despite his US upbringing and benefits.

When Cruz argued the Medellin case before the US Supreme Court, few Americans had any idea how close our nation came to turning over jurisdiction to a legal body that has nothing to do with domestic law.

Cruz and Perry didn’t just fight Medellin’s attorneys in that case. Cruz, as Texas solicitor general, and Perry, as governor, challenged a Republican president (George W. Bush), more than 90 nations who sided with Mexico and the World Court.

“Not without some irony, some ninety nations appeared as amici against Texas before the U.S. Supreme Court.(50) Nonetheless, not one of those nations enforces the Vienna Convention or the judgments of the World Court in its own courts.(51) No other nation accords binding force to World Court ridings in its own domestic courts-and yet a great many nations wished for the United States to sacrifice its own sovereignty and be bound by the World Court.”

Can you imagine how the parents of Medellin's victims felt when they learned the world would lobby for mercy for a confessed torturer and murderer? How would you feel if a US president took the side of a foreign nation in protecting a killer who tortured, raped and murdered your child?

Perry could have caved to international pressure and pressure from a president who was a fellow Republican.

The same issues cropped up again in the case of convicted murderer and rapist Humberto Leal. Like the victims in the Medellin case, Leal’s victim was a teenager.

Once again Perry stood down challenges from the world court and the president who this time was a Democrat. Once again the US Supreme Court—despite the issue having been settled—received a petition to stay an execution.

In essence, the Obama administration by lobbying for a convicted rapist and murderer was attempting to undermine a Supreme Court ruling, Texas law and US sovereignty.

The Supreme Court in July, 2011, denied Leal’s petition. Four justices turned their backs on the U.S., siding with Mexico: Breyer, Kagan, Sotomayor, and Ginsburg.

On the basis of that error alone, those four justices should step down from the court, having refused to protect and uphold the US Constitution’s limits on federal powers, in this case as applied to domestic states’ laws.

Had Cruz not fought a successful legal battle, and had Perry not stood his ground, foreign nations would have scored a monumental victory that would endanger the foundations of domestic and state laws.

Legacy media, always a shill for the left, lobbied for Leal’s stay. Most did not even name Leal’s 16-year-old victim who was bashed in the head and raped with a stick. That child was named as Adria Saveda in Texas court documents. She was eventually mentioned by a few media who cited her name as Adria Sauceda.

Human Events covered the Leal case, noting, “Governor Perry, on the other hand, does not seem much impressed by these international edicts. He has thus far refused to stay Leal’s execution. Spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger said bluntly, ‘If you commit the most heinous of crimes in Texas, you can expect to face the ultimate penalty under our laws, as in this case.’”

Cruz pointed out in the Journal article, “[T]hese fights will keep on coming. The creep of international law, and the asserted authority of international tribunals, will pose one of the greatest challenges of coming decades.”

Cruz spoke at the Red State Gathering in Charleston on Saturday. Standing there on the stage, he made it clear he has a passion for America common among children of immigrants. Cruz talked a little about the Medellin case and about the governor he served. Perry, Cruz said, did not hesitate to fight. “We defended US sovereignty and we won 6-3.”

As media vets Republicans running for office, it is important to note that this critical issue will not be talked about by Northeastern branded publications and their counterparts across the land. I watched the reporters standing around me in the press gallery at the conference. As Cruz spoke about the Medellin case, most of those reporters paid little attention. I am certain not a single one of them had a clue about a matter of vital importance to the wellbeing of our country.

Bottom line: a Texas governor and a US Senate candidate stood down two presidents, the World Court and more than 90 countries to protect our rights to independence. US domestic laws and the rights of the states are sacred and deserve protection.

You’d think media would want to tell this story. Instead, most threw justice to the wind and lobbied for undeserved mercy for rapists, torturers and murderers.

Perry stood his ground, holding to the victory Cruz won in his argument before the Supreme Court. On July 7, 2011, Texas executed Humerto Leal.

Video: US Senate candidate Ted Cruz spoke at the Red State Gathering 2011 held in Charleston Aug. 12-14. There was no mistaking Cruz's potential as a major figure in national politics in years to come.